Flowmotion Summer Meltdown - review

[keither]

A two person review from Keither & MooseBroccoli of the Bonfire Festival in BC next weekend...

Who: Flowmotion, Everyone Orchestra, Tea Leaf Green, Buckethead, That 1 Guy & about 40 other bands at the 8th Annual Flowmotion Summer Meltdown

What: Just about every type of good music... plus workshops, kid's camp & more

Where: Whitehorse Mountain Amphitheatre ~ Darrington, Washington

When: Thursday August 7 - Sunday August 10

Sound:

Keither - The audio was abundant & heavy to lift... but sounded pretty good to me most of the time. There were certainly moments that were a little muddled, but IMO the audio crew did a great job. Garden Stage was a little too bass heavy at times, but with so many different styles of music to mix, you had to expect some variations on sound quality. MooseBroccoli ran the late night audio through one of those good old Mackie systems, and did an amazing job getting the best out of it... as usual. SO MANY PROPS being given to Bruce by all the late night musicians.

Bruce - FOH bass on the Main Stage was a little too loose for Moosey's liking... but he thought the PA was killer. Simply put, the Meltdown did a great job with sound.

Ambience:

Keither - The lighting tech Gary had a MONSTER visual rig, so on that end things were mind blowing. The ambience of the whole place felt a lot like a Supercharged Bonfire Festival. So... the atmosphere & mood of the place was very special & unique. Can't forget the glacier fed river on site... which was ecstatic on the hot days.

Bruce - In the late night tent, it was theatrical, fun, very well received... and free!!! General Meltdown ambience was uplifting.

Crowd/Scene/Vibe:

Keither - Probably the best large group of happy, friendly, creative & helpful people I've ever spent an extended time with. Everyone was super stoked to be Melting Down, the PNW was very well represented, and as such... even the rain we got on Saturday didn't dampen the positive energy. That site is perfect in every way, so all good there. The vibe felt like a Horning's or High Sierra festival. I was in my happy place for the whole week... except for a small bump on Saturday night.

Bruce - Meltdown encompassed exactly the type of folks you want to spend a weekend of camping & listening to music with, in exactly the type of environment. It was exactly what you want out of a Summer Music Festival.

Quote(s):

Keither

"Keither! Your first fucking Meltdown and already you crazy Canucks are jacking our Main Stage!!!"

~ Evan McDonnell (the festival's production manager) after showing up Saturday morning to find a Canadian flag & a Jolly Roger pirate flag emblazoned in the Main Stage scaffolding. By the way... it WASN'T me. If I had thought of that, I would have scaled the scaffolding & set the flags right on the top!

"Keither man... we've got a 10 pound roast that we're gonna BBQ and then wrap in bacon!"

~ GerryG from the Bellingham Flowmotion Clan

Bruce -

"I'm looking for something, but I can't tell you what. No, I'm not lost. Yep, I'm alright. I'm not looking for drugs. I'm looking for a boy. I need a fuck."

~ Some cute, solo & illegal 17 year old girl wandering around as Bruce was making his way to bed after the Saturday late-night show and the sun was up.

Highlites:

Keither - Flowmotion, Acorn Project, On The One, McTuff and camping with the Israel family/community. Most importantly, working with all the amazing staff. There's far too many to list, but I'd like to give a special thanks to JQ, Evan & the FlowMo gents for having us down and treating us like family.

Bruce - On The One... and successfully manouevering the audio for the 15 or so member Saturday late-night All Star Jam!

Summation:

Keither - Totally melted, and will be back for more every year from now on!

Bruce - Highly recommended

www.summermeltdown.com

Edited August 14, 2008 by Guest

[SaggyBalls]

It was amazing last year. Glad you two made it out. I'd have loved being there again.

That venue is the home of some of the best bluegrass times in the NW - Glad those hippies keep it freaky at least one weekend a year.